Medium-Sized Bio

In a rapidly-evolving music industry with more competition than ever, musicians increasingly find it challenging to get their music heard. Taking a risk by offering your music for sale to the world means allowing yourself to be vulnerable, but it also affords you the opportunity to show you are in it for the long haul. Scott Cooley is one such risk-taker.

Scott
Cooley's music is an example of the art of songwriting in a rudimentary yet resonant
form. He has become a master at a simple signature sound and at describing predicaments people can relate to. For two decades, Cooley has been delivering a
full album of new original songs written, performed and recorded himself to
listeners from all over the world who have bought his CDs and digital albums in
popular online stores.

As a
recording artist who does not tour and only plays live on a rare occasion,
Cooley has established himself as someone other young songwriters,
multi-instrumentalists, and do-it-yourself home recording hobbyists appreciate
and want to learn from. His distinctive
baritone voice, which has a real and natural quality, can be confident and
authoritative but at the same time it has been said that it can also have a calming
effect on the listener.

Although
he plays light drums, percussion, bass, harmonica, and marimba on his
recordings, the core instrument heard is the acoustic guitar, on which Cooley
is both competent as a rhythm and lead guitarist, employing the use of a
hawaiian-style slide on occasion. Even
though he is beginning to include more piano, the overall all-acoustic, roots-rock
sound he has come up with that blends many American influences, styles, and
genres gives all of his records a "living-room jam" type of feel that
has been influential on other musicians as well. By many accounts there is agreement it is as
a lyricist, however, that Cooley really shines when considering all of the
different aspects of songwriting and recording.

As of
2016, he has released 7 albums that are still in print circulation since 2004,
during which he has released at a steady pace of one every two years in
even-numbered years on his birthday, June 21st on his own independent record
label, Scott Cooley Records. Cooley
began performing for live audiences as early as 1989, progressing from a classic
rock & blues cover band member playing lead guitar opening for more
established acts and as headliners in bars, to a solo performer of original
material at open mic nights in bars and coffee houses, with an acoustic duo or
two in-between.

Cooley’s
songs have had a big impact on all different kinds of people from all over the
USA and beyond thanks to the internet: “Smitten
with the Mitten,” “Mackinac Island,” “Haul Away on the Halyard,” Coney,” “Up
North,” “One More Mile to McDonald's,” “Puttin' Up A Pole Barn,” “Find My Way
Back Home,” “Hot Sauce,” “Torn In Two,” “No Reason Flowers,” “I Know I Love
You,” “Forever A Memory,” “Shoreline Miles,” and many more included among the
most memorable and popular. The winner of a minor songwriting contest award
from Billboard magazine, Scott has few formal accolades to boast about, but
considers it an artistic achievement every time he writes a song that
"works" and is "release-worthy" according to his own judgment.

Born and
raised in the Flint, Michigan area, Cooley spent several years in Colorado and
in other areas of his home state, but returned to the area in 2015 where he has
since lived with his wife Lenore and their two golden retrievers, Levi and
Livingston.

Musical Background

The sea of text that follows is a rough draft that is incomplete, full of errors and under construction.

Piano Lessons: Scott Cooley's parents made him take piano lessons for a brief period of time when he was very young. The piano teacher lived in Scott's neighborhood and taught lessons in her house, which just happened to be located right in between two of Scott's friends' houses. When his mom would drop him off, Scott would see his friends out playing football in the yard or skateboarding or shooting hoop in the driveway, and would unsuccessfully slouch down in the car so as not to be recognized. Embarrassed by this situation, he pleaded with his parents to allow him to quit piano, and finally, they gave in and allowed it. At that time of his life, piano just wasn't cool or macho and Scott just wanted to be a regular kid and do what his friends in the neighborhood did, which was play sports. Of course Scott now realizes this was a huge mistake and wishes he would've stuck with it.

Mandatory Elementary School Music Class & Church Choir Stint: Aside from mandatory 5th grade choir, in which Scott remembers singing The Ratlin' Bog as his standout favorite, and being issued a recorder (the wind instrument) which he never learned to play at all, and then a brief stint in the First Presbyterian church choir in early high school where he either checked out the hot babes while lip syncing the words or skipped showing up at all with another friend (opting to instead aimlessly wander the streets of downtown Flint, Michigan until the ride would arrive), this was the extent of Scott's involvement in music.

Hometown Radio, Air Guitar Band & Local Record Stores: A strong appreciation for music did however take shape during these formative years, which early on included John Denver, the Beach Boys, and the Beatles, and then as he got a little older, the late 70s hard rock bands played on Flint-area WTAC AM and WWCK FM radio stations (first album was Kiss Alive, favorite band was Led Zeppelin), highlighted by participation in a Kiss "air guitar" band at Camp Copeniconic that briefly reunited annually for several summers of "practice", where Scott played the role of Ace Frehley. One member of this band went on to be a regionally famous, somewhat legendary and charismatic lead singer of several punk rock and funk bands in the midwest, which Scott thought was really cool. Back in the 1970s there were lots of actual brick and mortar record stores you could walk into and buy records from. The experience was made even cooler at Rock-a-Rolla REcords in Flint, which also sold bongs, pipes, rolling papers, and these bottles of liquid called Rush you could inhale and feel your brain cells frying for about 30 seconds at a time (probably not a marketing gimmick affiliated with the Canadian band of the same name).

Going To Live Shows - during both High School and College: Flash forward a few years and Scott is a veteran rock concert attendee, mostly rocking out on the lawn at Pine Knob ski area north of Detroit which was an outdoor ampitheater in the summer; and a budding appreciator of both the touring folk acts that played at his college, and the student music acts who played and sang at various open mic night events around campus.

Guitar 101 - First Instrument and Only Class: These experiences all added up to one inevitable conclusion - Scott would buy a beat up acoustic guitar at a pawn shop in Flint when home on break from college, and then sign up for a guitar course. Since taking Intro to Guitar as a blow-off class his senior year in college (‘89), Scott has gone on to learn to play several instruments, write many songs, and even win an honorable mention T-shirt in the Billboard Song Contest as a consolation prize, his first and only songwriting award thus far, all without ever learning to read…music. He was intimidated that the guitar professor wanted him to learn to read music first, when all he wanted to do was learn a few chords so he could play popular rock and blues songs and be able to jam a little lead guitar instrumental solos with friends. So that's what Scott set out to do, and ever since, he still really only knows a few power chords and some type of scale that has the word 'pentatonic' in it.

From Open Mic Scenes to Actual Paying Gigs: Playing in duos and groups with more talented bandmates formed by getting to know other musicians at open mic nights, Cooley was able to land some paying gigs, both as the opening act and as headliners, while as a solo performer, never got past the open mic night scene. Despite his courage and confidence, he quickly realized his shortcomings as a live performer after a few short years and aside from the occasional campfire with family and friends, has given it up entirely.

From Performing to Songwriting: The playing hasn't progressed much at all, but becoming a good guitar player wasn't Scott's thing. It was making up his own songs.
Diverse experiences providing lyrical inspiration include having been a ski bum, bus driver, shop rat, law school dropout and technical writer to name a few; in addition to residence in the state of Colorado and travels to places like Brazil and France. Aside from the intro guitar class, Scott is truly a "self-taught, by-ear" musician who not only writes the words and music heard on his recordings, but also does the: instrument playing (rhythm, lead & slide guitar, bass, drums, percussion, marimba, harmonica), singing, producing, recording, engineering, mixing, mastering, copyrighting, publishing, burning, designing, and packaging of CDs, and web site design and development, all with the help of computer-based digital recording equipment and software in his home studio.

Learning More Instruments & Recording Techniques: It's about having the equipment, mostly. The motivation was there, so...

Distribution - From Mix Tapes to CDs to MP3s to Online Music Stores: microlabel, or netlabel known as Scott Cooley Records, along with the publishing arm, Scott Cooley Music Publishing, were established by Scott to help to preserve the independence of Scott Cooley, the songwriter. The Web site, scottcooley.com, is yet another DIY project that is in a sense an offshoot of the songwriting hobby in an effort to self-market and make the fruits of his labors available for public appreciation and consumption.

He learned all this stuff totally on his own, slowly but surely improving here and there over time, and likes it as hobby, but doesn't take it nearly as seriously as this web site might make one think he does. The hobby is the pretend content to learn about how to create a website, which has gone on to itself being a bit of a hobby as well (who doesn't like talking or writing about themselves and what they know?). This is an example of taking the "fake it 'till you make it" concept farther than originally conceived, becoming more serious along the way, while Scott has never admitted to thinking he could actually become a professional songwriter. Definitely pretending to want to ever become a singer/performer would be ridiculous and practically insane. He's grounded in reality, be assured.

Scott’s music tastes were formed by listening to popular music on recordings and radio since his birth in 1967. At around 1977 or so, he began discovering friends' older sibling's records, which made him aware of recorded music that was either never popular, or once-popular but no longer popular. Scott was semi-popular himself in high school and college, never football-player popular, but never a wallflower either. Scott made friends with brains, jocks and stoners alike.

Like most people, Scott is someone who likes certain people, regardless of things like background or religion; and similarly, likes certain songs regardless of things like style or genre. Scott dislikes words like genre or niche in general, not because he is necessarily opposed to artists being labeled, but rather because he has never been confident in remembering the precise pronunciation of these words with French origins. One such artist was Neil Young, a particularly influential one. Nobody his age liked Neil at the time, but this would change no doubt over the years. What Scott particularly enjoyed was the variety of musical styles by one artist.

Along about 1987, Scott developed an appreciation for live music performance, particularly enjoying the college folk-rock and open mic scene. As his guitar playing progressed after college, Scott found it to be an interesting pursuit in the early 90’s to try to invent his own songs, experimenting with the various forms he'd heard from these influences.

Scott has enjoyed learning to play instruments, using them to write music, writing lyrics, combining them with the music by singing them while playing the music, giving them titles and then recording them. The next logical step has been offering them for purchase and licensing via this Web site.
Guided by the do-it-yourself ethos brought on by the affordable digital audio computer recording technology and the emergence of the acoustic guitar-dominated "unplugged" rock sound of the 90's (spawned from the MTV show of the same name),

Cooley used his acoustic guitar and beginner’s chord book to write and record original songs starting in 1990 and a hobby was born. Cooley initially drew inspiration from his blue-collar, midwestern, home-town of Flint, Michigan, known for its roots in the garage rock scene since Grand Funk Railroad hit it big in the early 70’s with their instrumentally basic, high-spirited, home-brewed sound. Like many of his peers, the first records he collected included late 70s/early 80s hard rock bands such as Kiss, Boston, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Journey, REO Speedwagon, AC/DC, Cheap Trick, Rush and of course Led Zeppelin, to name a few.

This background, combined with a strong appreciation of America's finest singer-songwriters like Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, James Taylor, John Denver, Jimmy Buffett, and Tom Petty to name a few, led Cooley to develop a preference for the simplicity and tone of the acoustic guitar, while using it to develop a rough-edged folk-rock style with hints of punk, blues, country and reggae blended in.

Despite using a couple of nifty digital effects, Scott plays all acoustic instruments, including guitar, bass, drums, harmonica and marimba. Scott’s minimalist playing and singing style combined with these natural tones results in a warm yet refreshingly cool listening experience of understated elegance.
Cooley is an atypical GenXer who, while his peers listened to 80’s new wave and then hair metal, was rediscovering the classic rock of his youth from a decade earlier, including Michigan rockers Bob Seger, Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent, along with the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the Grateful Dead. His guitar hero was Stevie Ray Vaughn. His all-time favorite live band while a Colorado resident, Leftover Salmon, was a band that defied easy description, labelling their own music as polyethnic cajun slamgrass.

Scott’s unique style has proven difficult to categorize - a little too acoustic and mellow for age-appropriate bars where only loud classic-rock covers will do, while too rebellious and rocking for the baby boomer coffee house scene that tends to welcome more traditional folk stylings.
Cooley’s songs are most appealing to an adult audience and are far from those you’d find marketed to teens on today’s MTV and FM radio stations. Sophisticated lyrics mixed with simple instrumentation and an admittedly mediocre vocal talent make Cooley more of a songwriter than a singer, and more of a backup than a lead band member. However, his hobby of writing and recording songs has remained a source of pride and joy for him from 1990 to present, during which he has amassed a catalog of over 300 original compositions.